1 The Beginning

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

Whatever happened to the Forty Thieves?

Just because Ali Baba overheard the secret phrase "Open Sesame" to open the doors of the cave, the forty thieves lost everything.

My name is Theeya and I am the direct descendant of Baba Yoosoof, one of the Forty Thieves killed by Ali Baba. My Mission is to find the secret cave that my ancestor hid so well. The treasures inside the cave would last multiple generation for hundreds and hundreds of years.

My late father died with an ancient map which he entrusted to me.

"Theeya, find the cave. It is your inheritance from our ancestors."

Father had no sons and only daughters. My 4 sisters were all uninterested in these "fairytale". They were more interested in getting married than to pursue an illusion of a legend.

I am daughter number three and Father treated me like the son that he never had. I know how to fend for myself with the sword, arrow, gauntlet, nunchucks and fists. Mother died before Father did so my eldest sister Moureeza took care of us until her wedding last year as the last of us, Freezia, reached 18 years of age.

Queen Scheherazade told the story of my ancestor in what would now be known as 1001 Arabian Nights. I know it is not a work of fiction because I am the living proof who knows the cave in the story exists. I shall find the cave!

Why was Father so obsessed with the cave?

It was not told in the story. The real legend passed down from my ancestors were in the form of a poem written on a yellowed parchment:

"Open Sesame to all the riches your eyes could hold

Close Sesame to protect what matters most to the world

Gold comes to naught in the face of death

The true treasure of the immortal life lies beyond Open Sesame

Only with the reddest blush of a maiden would it be unlocked."

This is my quest for the Holy Grail. The secret of immortality and great wealth.

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I tried focusing my eyes in front of me.

The passage was just too dark.

I couldn't light up my torch. I couldn't risk being seen.

He was chasing me, hot on my trail.

My breathing became labored.

Suddenly I felt my heart stopped beating.

A hand squeezed my heart and the next thing I knew, two red eyes stood in front of me in the dark. I wanted to scream but nothing came out of my mouth. The two red eyes squinted and the last thing I saw was two white fangs and I heard evil laughter as I lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes, the bright light blinded me for awhile. I touched my chest, my heart was still beating.

"I am not dead," beads of perspiration rolled down my forehead.

I was in my room. It was another dream.

The nightmare became a nightly occurrence now. Ever since I started getting the help from Professor Jeff Everett to decipher the map and the poetic clue two weeks ago.

There was a common theme to the nightmare. I was always being chased by "Him", the one with the red eyes and white fangs with the evil laughter. Sometimes I was in the dark passage with no end to the tunnel. Sometimes I was in the open field with the night sky so dark with no moon in sight. Sometimes I was locked inside a dark room and chained while being taunted by "Him". His favorite goal was to get to me and stop my beating heart. Sometimes my heart would be squeezed. Other times it would be ripped out from my chest and I would see it beating in front of me while the red eyes glared at me and the last thing I heard would be the evil laughter.

Father did not warn me of these dreams.

I knew that he was hallucinating more often in the final days leading to his death. Was it a family curse?

"Prove that you are worthy!!!"

I woke up with a start. I sat upright and I looked around. I wasn't in my room. This was the hotel room that I was temporarily putting up at to be closer to Prof Jeff Everett.

I was dreaming inside my nightmare. Like the movie Inception. A dream inside a dream.

I pinched myself.

"Ouch. Yes, I am finally awake."

I shook my head and stretched out my arms. "Time to work, Theeya!"

In 10 minutes I was out of the room and walked towards the office of Professor Jeff Everett who was my father's age. At 58, he was dashingly handsome. Nothing like my father at all. Perhaps it's the fact that he was never married. "Maybe he's gay. Gays take care of their appearance really well," I shrugged off that thought as I walked towards the red door with the name "Prof Dr J Everett" engraved on it.

I straightened my brown jacket and tucked my dark brown curls behind my ears. My hair was shoulder length with slight curls at the end. I decided to just let it down today.

At age 25, I would say that I look younger and could pass to be 21 or perhaps even be mistaken as a teenager. There were a couple of times when I was stopped to show my ID to prove that I was not a minor. I have big brown eyes, almond shaped with thick curly eye lashes. My nose was almost a button nose, I used to hate it when my sisters poked fun at my nose. Theirs were tall and well defined. I wonder if I was adopted at birth since I looked quite different from them. I only wore a pink lip gloss on my rose petal shaped lips today. My ex boyfriend told me he loved my lips the most and I was certainly very kissable. At that thought I frowned. "I cannot be thinking about George anymore. It has been 2 years and he married Maria," I suppressed the dull pain in my heart when I thought of the strawberry blond guy whom I used to love with all my heart and soul. Maria was his next door neighbor whom he finally married after I turned down his proposal for the third time.

"I can't be thinking of a man while fulfilling my father's legacy!" I reminded myself as I stepped through the red door.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the blue eyes looking back at me.

Prof Everett was so effortlessly good looking I would even call him beautiful.

I found myself staring at him tongue-tied.

His perfectly arched eyebrows crumpled together and he frowned at me.

"Cat got your tongue? I just said "Good morning" No response? Seems like this is a pattern of yours everyday," he gave a slight smile on his sensuous lips, revealing perfect rows of teeth.

I cleared my throat as I came out of my trance. "Get a grip of yourself. He's gay for Goodness' Sake!" I thought to myself as I brushed away an urge to kiss that gorgeous smile.

Looking amused, Prof Everett raises his eyebrows and cocked his head to one side.

"Had a good sleep?"

"Good morning Prof Everett. Yes it was a good sleep," I finally found my voice.

"You're lying. Your dark circles under the eyes are so dark you put the pandas to shame."

I blushed.

Before I could say anything he motioned me to his desk, pointing at the parchment in front of him.

I sighed in relief as the awkward conversation has ended. I noticed there was a new parchment beside my father's original parchment.

"I found this piece that I had been keeping all along, forgetting I had it till last night. They are pretty similar. Seems like they came from the same era. Similar paper type and quality, similar ink and writing style," he motioned me to come nearer to take a closer look.

He was right.

It looked like a continuation of my ancestors' parchment.

"Where did you get this piece from?" I whispered as I got closer to Prof Everett. I could smell his aftershave and he smelt like heaven. I wanted to snuggle up with him and hug him all day long.

"It actually belonged to my late uncle from my mother's side. I love ancient Egyptian literature since young so I inherited this when my uncle passed on. No one else wanted it. That also explains why I am a professor in Egyptology."

Inwardly I was swooning being so close to him. Outwardly I schooled my expression to look cool and I pretended to be interested in what he was saying. Not that I needed persuasion, he would be quacking like a duck and I would still look at him like a wide-eyed fan girl.

"I think our ancestors are related, Theeya," his blue eyes bored into mine.

That jolted me from my daydream.

"What? So you and I are actually related?" The first thing that hit my mind was we are related by blood hence we could never be married. "Why are you thinking of marrying a gay guy Theeya!?! Get a grip!" I looked at him waiting for an answer.

"It is just a hypothesis at this point. Even if they were related I doubt we are both closely related. These parchments look so old. It must have been many generations ago," he flashed a smile that could melt my heart 100 times over.

"OMG he could read my mind," but inwardly I was happy that we are not closely related by blood.

"I think we need to locate this place and find the descendant of all 40 thieves, are your next 6 months clear? We are going on an adventure."

"Six months with you on the road?" I asked, eyes wide open, not believing what I was hearing. Six months with this God of Egyptology, this handsome apparition of the Gods themselves. I was giddy with excitement at the thoughts.

He gave me another dashing smile and nodded. I was so happy my heart could burst and found myself smiling too.